Bridges: a metaphor of progress

If progress had a symbolic monument, it would be the bridge. 

From ancient Rome to current times, bridges have always been drivers for the economy and the development of nations, designed to meet an apparently simple need: joining two pieces of land, connecting peoples, improving commerce, shortening the distance between otherwise distant communities.  

The story of how bridges have evolved in time tells a lot about engineering and what the science of building has managed to conquer, which since the first arch bridges to suspended ones has journeyed through Man's history.

The Webuild Group contributed to the last 100 years of this history. Today, it has reached a record of 1,020 kilometres of bridges and viaducts built: equal to one big bridge crossing Europe to link Paris and Berlin, crossing the whole of Europe.  

About 120 years of experience building bridges and viaducts for more than 300 road and railway projects: the first being the Recco Viaduct in Italy in 1922, and the last being inaugurated in October 2020 Long Beach International Gateway, California.

It is a unique history of bridge construction – from arch to cable-stayed to beam to suspension – that documents how engineering techniques have evolved during the last century. The ability to plan, manage, innovate and apply the latest techniques is essential for the successful completion of projects such as the Genova San Giorgio Bridge, erected in record time in 2020 after a little more than a year of work. The first project, the Recco Viaduct, was first built from 1914 to 1922, then rebuilt in 1948 after being bombed during the Second World War: 376 metres of suspended railway that came to represent the reconstruction effort in Italy.

Still, the story of the bridges built by Webuild (and by the companies that were part of it) at the start of the XX century, is one that also moves beyond Italian boundaries, to Iran and the Trans-Iranian Railway: the first railway to unite the nation, becoming both an example of national development and engineering skill. Decades later came the Second and Third suspension bridges over the Bosphorus. More than 20 years separate them (the Second opened in 1988 and the Third in 2016) but they both met the need to connect Europe and Asia and help turn Istanbul into a world city. The Webuild Group, also in Turkey, in 2016, completed the Osman Gazi Bridge, the sixth bridge in the world for the length of its main span that measures 1,500 metres, at the time of its inauguration.

Webuild's main bridges and viaducts

Projects to connect lands throughout the United States, overcome mighty rivers in South America, modernise cities in Australia, set out new routes across Italy’s mountainous regions: the bridges built by the Webuild Group are modern, technological and sustainable icons that dot the map of the world, at every latitude and longitude. Some of them, such as the Rosario-Victoria Bridge, built on the Paranà River, are a precious trade connection for four South American countries: Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Others, such as the Skytrain Viaduct of the Sydney Metro Northwest, highlight the innovation applied to the Australian city’s metro line: a curved cable-stayed bridge that was recognised as “2018 Project of the Year” by U.S. trade magazine, Engineering News-Record (ENR).  

Innovation and organizational skill, design and technique: essential qualities to succeed in building works like the Genoa San Giorgio Bridge, finished in 2020, after just over 1 year of works to close Genoa's deep wound caused by the collapse of the Morandi Bridge. 

This is the importance and the responsibility played by large bridges: premium engineering expressions born to reach those very shores by foot that were only reachable through the eyes and imagination.

What materials are bridges made of?

The bridges can be built with 4 types of materials, two ofthem very old – wood and stone; and two that have begun to spread since the Industrial Revolution – metals and concrete.

What are the parts of a bridge?

The superstructure is composed by:

1.    The deck, the horizontal plane on which the road or the railway rest 
2.    The supports, the connecting elements between the deck and the substructure 
3.    The span, the distance between two supports. 

The substructure is made by:

4.    The abutments the supporting elements at the ends of the deck 
5.    The piers the intermediate supporting elements of the deck 
6.    The foundation plinths the bases on which Piers are placed 
7.    The foundation piles on which plinths and abutment rest